Two types of networks which are common today are ad hoc networks and cellular networks. In the case of unlicensed frequency spectrum open to use by the general public, ad hoc networks are relatively common. In the case of such networks, wireless communications devices in a region may establish a network between themselves without relying on infrastructure base stations and/or other devices to control the allocation of communications resources. From a utilization perspective, in unlicensed spectrum individual communications devices are normally free to maximize their use of the unlicensed spectrum without regard to other devices. Unfortunately, actions taken by a communications device may negatively impact communications of a neighboring device adversely, e.g., by appearing as interference to the neighboring device.
In the cellular context where spectrum is often licensed, the owner of the license to the spectrum often has an interest in maximizing the use of the spectrum. It is commonly understood that communications devices working together in a cooperative manner can usually achieve a higher overall data throughput using a given amount of communications resource such as frequency spectrum, as compared to devices which seek to optimize their own throughput irrespective of the impact on other devices. Acting in a cooperative manner may include such things as responding to interference control signals, e.g., transmission power level control signals, resource allocation signals and/or other types of signals used to control wireless communications transmission in a manner that may be suboptimal for the individual communications device but which limits the interference caused by the device to other devices. Devices in cellular systems are often designed to operate in a cooperative manner.
While operating in a cooperative manner may be beneficial when viewed from an overall system perspective, it may not be beneficial from the perspective of an individual wireless communications device. In fact, when operating in unlicensed spectrum and/or when operating in the presence of a device operating in a non-cooperative manner, operating in a cooperative manner may result in a significant disadvantage in communications capability relative to the throughput a communications device operating in a non-cooperative manner may achieve. In the case of unlicensed spectrum a resource greedy communications device may have a distinct advantage over a cooperative resource-considerate device.
In view of the above discussion, it should be appreciated that there is a need for providing flexibility in terms of how a wireless communicates device operates relative to other devices, e.g., in a cooperative or non-cooperative manner. It would be desirable if methods and/or apparatus were developed which allowed a device flexibility with regard to whether it operated in a cooperative or non-cooperative manner. It would also be desirable if a device that had the flexibility of operating in either a cooperative or non-cooperative manner could make the decision of how to operate in a reasonable manner based on information about the capabilities and/or operation of neighboring devices.